Weekend Roundup: Canadians break swimming records and qualify for Tokyo
From a Wimbledon warmup to the Olympic Swimming Trials presented by Bell, it was an action-packed weekend for Canadian athletes. Catch up on the latest Tokyo 2020 qualifications, record-breaking moments, and more:
Félix finishes second in doubles at Halle Open 🎾
READ: Félix Auger-Aliassime reaches Halle Open semis
READ: Félix Auger-Aliassime defeats Roger Federer at Halle Open
Félix Auger-Aliassime impressed at the Halle Open in Germany this weekend, reaching the men’s doubles final with partner Hubert Hurkacz of Poland.
The duo defeated the fifth-seeded team of Tim Putz (Germany) and Michael Venus (New Zealand) in the semis on Saturday to earn their ticket to Sunday’s final. They put up a good fight but were eventually bested 7-6(4), 6-4 in the final by third seeds Kevin Krawietz (Germany) and Horia Tecau (Romania).
Auger-Aliassime also competed in singles, defeating the legendary Roger Federer of Switzerland in the Round of 16. He played on until the semis where he fell to Ugo Humbert of France 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5).
The 20-year-old now looks forward to Wimbledon where main draw play begins on June 28.
Olympic qualification for two marathon swimmers 🏊♀️
READ: Kate Sanderson qualifies for Tokyo 2020
READ: Hau-Li Fan qualifies for Tokyo 2020
Canada saw two marathon swimmers earn Olympic qualifications this weekend as Kate Sanderson and Hau-Li Fan secured their tickets to Tokyo.
Sanderson finished third in the women’s 10km open water qualification event in Portugal on Saturday. Her time of 2:01:58 was just three seconds behind first-place finisher Anna Olasz of Hungary and two seconds behind Paula Ruiz of Spain.
On the men’s side, Hau-Li Fan followed up with a strong performance of his own. His time of 2:03:05.40 was good for 18th place, earning him an Olympic berth via Continental qualification for the Americas.
Both Sanderson and Fan will compete in their first Olympic Games this summer.
Masse, Liendo, and McIntosh break records at Olympic Swimming Trials 🤩
READ: Liendo and Masse set Canadian records on opening day of Olympic swimming trials
READ: Olympic Swimming Trials: 14-year-old Summer McIntosh qualified for nomination for Tokyo
The Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials presented by Bell kicked off this weekend and the athletes wasted no time in setting a high standard.
In one of Saturday’s first races, 18-year-old Joshua Liendo set a Canadian record in the men’s 100m butterfly with a time of 51.40s. He went on to take first place in the final, qualifying himself for nomination to Team Canada for Tokyo 2020.
We saw another national record shattered as Kylie Masse won the women’s 100m backstroke in 57.70s – nearly half a second faster than the previous mark she set in 2017.
Then on Sunday, 14-year-old Summer McIntosh made a statement of her own, winning the women’s 200m freestyle final with a time of 1:56.19. Not only did McIntosh beat out four-time Olympic medallist Penny Oleksiak, but she also went under the Olympic standard time, meaning that she is now qualified to be nominated for Tokyo. McIntosh also broke her own Canadian age group record (women’s 13-14 years old).
In addition to those performances, Olympic qualifications were also secured by Katerine Savard (women’s 100m butterfly), Taylor Ruck (women’s 100m backstroke), Markus Thormeyer and Cole Pratt (men’s 100m backstroke), and Kelsey Wog (women’s 100m breaststroke).
The Olympic Swimming Trials presented by Bell continue through Wednesday.
Georgia Ellenwood wins heptathlon gold in Germany 👟
It was a big weekend for Georgia Ellenwood as she earned a first place finish at the Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf-Meeting.
Her final mark of 6314 was a new personal best, largely in thanks to first-place finishes in the 800m and javelin throw. Odile Ahouanwanou of Benin took second (6274) while Verena Mayr of Austria came in third (6254).
